The 1961 Greenville 200 was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 to 1970, then the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand Nation ...

event that was held on April 1, 1961, at

Greenville-Pickens Speedway Greenville-Pickens Speedway is a race track located in Easley, South Carolina, just west of Greenville, South Carolina. The track hosted weekly NASCAR sanctioned races. Several NASCAR touring series have raced at the track in prior years, includi ...

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

Race report

After nearly two hours of racing 200 laps,

Emanuel Zervakis Emanuel Zervakis (January 23, 1930 – June 25, 2003) was a NASCAR driver and team owner. He won two NASCAR Grand National Series races in his career, both in 1961 ( Greenville 200 and Yankee 500). He later went on to own a part-time Cup tea ...

emerged as the winner as he managed to defeat

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notabl ...

by an unknown margin in front of a crowd of 5000 people. This would make the first of two career victories for Zervakis and the only time that a driver with the number 85 to have two career victories in NASCAR Cup Series history.''1961 Greenville 200''
racing information at Racing Reference All 21 of the drivers on the grid were

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-born males. Doug Yates would receive the last-place finish due to a

driveshaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

issue on the eighth lap. Other notable names who competed were:

Junior Johnson Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became ...

Roy Tyner William Leroy "Roy" Tyner (January 3, 1934 – February 23, 1989) was a Native American ''NASCAR Grand National'' driver from Red Springs, North Carolina, United States. NASCAR career Driver Tyner participated in the 1968 Fireball 300 in addi ...

, and

Ned Jarrett Ned Jarrett (born October 12, 1932) is an American retired race car driver and two-time NASCAR Grand National Series champion. Because of his calm demeanor, he became known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett". He is the father of former drivers Glenn J ...

. Johnson would qualify for the pole position with speeds up to during the qualifying sessions. Four cautions slowed the race for 20 laps; there was only one crash during the entire race. Bob Barron was a middle-aged rookie who started in 20th place and finished in 18th place. After the 1961 NASCAR Grand National Series season, Barron attempted to do only one more NASCAR Cup Series race while making attempts to look into it further. Zervakis would make his first win in his NASCAR career at this racing event. Bud Allman was one of the notable crew chiefs at the race; he worked on Ned Jarrett's #11 Ford vehicle.1961 Greenville 200 crew chiefs information
at Racing Reference The transition to purpose-built racecars began in the early 1960s and occurred gradually over that decade. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s brought an end to the "strictly stock" vehicles of the 1950s.

Qualifying

Finishing order

Section reference: # Emanuel Zervakis (No. 85) # Richard Petty (No. 43) #

Rex White Rex White (born August 17, 1929) is a retired auto racer and NASCAR champion. White was one of the drivers who competed for the original Chevrolet racing team. He began racing in 1956, grabbing fourteen top-ten finishes. After a part-time run in ...

(No. 4) #

G.C. Spencer Grover Clifton "G. C." Spencer (July 9, 1925GC Spencer obituaryhttp://www.heartfeltconnections.net/memberEulogy.cfm?memberid=14734&sqry_rownum=1&CFTOKEN=39227896 . – September 20, 2007) was a NASCAR driver who competed in 415 Grand National/ ...

(No. 48) #

Buck Baker Elzie Wylie Baker Sr. (March 4, 1919 – April 14, 2002), better known as Buck Baker, was an American stock car racer. Born in Richburg, South Carolina, Baker began his NASCAR career in 1949 and won his first race three years later at Columbia ...

(No. 86) #

Jimmy Pardue James Pardue (October 26, 1930 – September 22, 1964) was a NASCAR race car driver who lived in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, USA. Summary He made his debut in 1955 at Martinsville, where he finished 28th after suffering hub problems in hi ...

(No. 54) #

Fred Harb Fareed "Fred" Joseph Harb Jr. (June 14, 1930December 18, 2016) was an American stock car racing driver. The High Point, North Carolina resident made 144 NASCAR Grand National Series starts from 1955 to 1965, earning 13 top fives and 42 top tens. ...

(No. 17) # George Green (No. 35) # Bobby Waddell (No. 0) # David Pearson (No. 67) #

Curtis Crider Curtis "Crawfish" Crider (October 7, 1930 – December 21, 2012) was an American stock car racing driver, and a pioneer in the early years of NASCAR. Career Born in Danville, Virginia, he was one of the hardest working and underfinanced racers t ...

(No. 62) # Doug Cox (No. 30) #

Herman Beam Herman Beam (December 11, 1929 – August 27, 1980) was a NASCAR Grand National Series driver and team owner from Johnson City, Tennessee who was active as a driver from 1957 until 1963. He is famous for holding the longest streak of races wit ...

(No. 19) #

(No. 11) #

(No. 9) #

(No. 27) # Tommy Irwin (No. 2) # Bob Barron (No. 71) # Jack Smith (No. 47) # Paul Lewis (No. 1) # Doug Yates (No. 23)

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: Junior Johnson started the race with the pole position. * Lap 8: Doug Yates had troubles with his driveshaft, making him the last-place finisher. * Lap 33: Paul Lewis suffered a terminal crash, forcing him to leave the event prematurely. * Lap 49: Jack Smith's engine blew in his racing vehicle. * Lap 54: Bob Barron's vehicle had a faulty clutch. * Lap 68: Tommy Irwin's problematic steering caused him to exit the race prematurely. * Lap 69: Junior Johnson developed fuel pump problems on this lap, ending his day on the track. * Lap 70: Rex White takes over the lead from Junior Johnson. * Lap 99: Roy Tyner had to leave the race due to transmission issues. * Lap 100: Ned Jarrett managed to overheat his vehicle, causing his early departure from the race. * Lap 149: Axle problems forced Herman Bean to drop out of the race. * Lap 176: Emanuel Zervakis takes over the lead from Rex White. * Lap 181: David Pearson ran out of gasoline, causing him to exit the race. * Finish: Emanuel Zervakis was officially declared the winner of the event.

References

{{1961 NASCAR Grand National Greenville 200 Greenville 200 NASCAR races at Greenville-Pickens Speedway